Commonwealth of Independent States

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.  It's not the successor to the Soviet Union but it kind of is even though it's not. 

Today the CIS consists of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.  In 2005, Turkmenistan became an observer member.  In 2008, Afghanistan and Mongolia became observer members.

Georgia withdrew its membership in 2008 following the five-day war when Russia invaded and took control of South Ossetia.

Ukraine withdrew in 2018 following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Russian support of two separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine.

The three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, chose not to participate because they viewed their being in the Soviet Union was an illegal occupation.

Headquarters for the CIS are in Minsk, Belarus.

The goal of the CIS is to coordinate policies regarding its members' economies, foreign relations, defence, immigration policies, environmental protection, and law enforcement.

The CIS spawned three organisations.  

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military alliance.  Kind of like the new Warsaw Pact but made up of former Soviet republics.  

The Eurasian Economic Union is basically the Eurasian version of the EU but only consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.

The Union State is the union of Belarus and Russia with the goal of common government, flag, currency, etc.

Following the breakup of the USSR, athletes competed at the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics in team events as part of the CIS "Unified Team".  Athletes competed under the Olympic flag.  Since 1992, athletes no longer compete as a unified team and compete for their home countries. 

The Turkic Council

The Turkic Council is an organisation of independent Turkic countries whose aim is to promote cooperation among Turkic-speaking countries.  The council was founded in 2009 by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.  The council's headquarters are in Istanbul.

In 2019, Uzbekistan joined the council.

In 2018, Hungary joined the council as an observer member.  Hungary isn't a Turkic nation so, to me, it seems real odd that Hungary is a part of the club.  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán probably did it to taunt the EU.  I suppose Orbán needs additional allies and the Turkic countries aren't exactly known for being liberal democracies.  Besides, Orbán has a track record of going on about how Europe has a Christian history and he's not known as being exactly welcoming to Islam.  All of the other council member countries are more Muslim than not.

In 2021, Turkmenistan also joined as an observer member so now, except for Tajikistan, four of the five of the "Stans" are members of the council. 

Earlier this year, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan applied for observer status but no decision has been made public yet.

While not an official language, English is a working language of the council.

Here's a short video I found out on YouTube that talks about the council.

©Organization of Turkic States

Update:  In November 2021, the Turkic Council changed its name to the Organization of Turkic States.

The Stans

Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea to China and from Russia to Afghanistan.  This area has been a crossroads for many, mostly nomadic, civilizations.  It is most noted for the Silk Route which connected the Middle East with Europe, India and China.

It is also home of "the Stans".  -Stan means "land of".  When most people speak of the Stans, they refer to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.  All five countries are former Soviet republics that gained independence when the USSR broke up.  Sometimes people try to include Afghanistan and Pakistan in the club but they are South Asian countries; not Central Asian.

Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country.  It was the last Soviet republic to declare independence.  Kazakhstan is home to 17 million people (not including the fictional character Borat).  A little over 70% of the population is Muslim.  The country is rich in fossil fuel reserves, uranium, copper, and zinc.

Kyrgyzstan is home to 5.7 million people and 75% are Muslim.  It is a poor, mountainous country that relies mostly on agriculture.  Until a few years ago, it was the only country in the world to host both American and Russian military bases at the same time. 

Tajikistan is the smallest of the stans but is home to 8 million people.  Over 90% are Muslim.  It was the poorest Soviet republic and today it is the poorest country in Central Asia.  Over 1 million Tajiks work abroad, 90% in Russia, and send money back home.  This makes up almost half of the country's GDP.

Turkmenistan is mostly desert.  It has a population of 5.2 million people of which 89% are Muslim.  Turkmenistan is sitting on the world's 4th largest natural gas reserves.  It isn't exactly an open society.  It is considered to be one of the 10 most censored countries in the world and its freedom of the press ranks just above North Korea and Eritrea.

Uzbekistan has 30 million people and roughly 88% are Muslim.  Nearly half of the entire population of Central Asia lives in Uzbekistan.  There is lots of history here as it is home to many cities that were main stops on the Silk Road.  Even though about 10% of the labor force works abroad, mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan, the country is considered one of the world's fastest growing economies.

Aside from Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek, the most commonly spoken language is Russian.  It is a co-official language in a few of the countries.

During communism, atheism was encouraged.  Since independence there has been a huge increase in the practice of Islam.  Several countries are working to balance secular societies with an increase of religion while preventing radical Islam from taking root. 

Visiting the Stans isn't exactly easy because all of them, except for Kyrgyzstan, require most people to obtain tourist visas.  Some are expensive, some are less so, but they all require a hell of a lot of paperwork.  For Americans, a Kazakh or Uzbek visa costs $160.  A Tajik visa is only $25 but you need an invitation letter before you can even apply.  The only way to get a tourist visa for Turkmenistan is to purchase an entire tour in advance.  Again, for the most part, Kyrgyzstan doesn't even require a visa so it's the easiest of the Stans to visit.

However, Kazakhstan is currently running a one-year test until 15 July 2015.  During this pilot program, citizens of the United States, the Netherlands, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Japan, and the UAE are allowed to visit without a visa for up to 15 days.

I've been wanting to visit Uzbekistan since I was a teenager.  Ever since I read a magazine article about the Soviet Union and it talked about how the capital city Tashkent was home to camels and pineapples.  However, thanks to "no visas required", my first trip to the Stans will be to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan this June. 

Update: Here's a video I found out on YouTube about how powerful the Stans are.

©NowThis World

Where Should I Go in 2013?

So far since moving to Europe in July 2009, I've been to 34 different countries.  Not a bad run if I do say so myself.  Now the question is what new places do I visit in 2013?  There are just so many places that I want to go to...Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Montenegro, Norway, Finland, Ukraine.  Heck, somehow I still haven't even managed to make it to London yet.  Decisions, decisions.  That's where I've decided to let my readers have some input.

Originally, I thought about letting people choose where I would visit.  The only problem with that one is that I would get a whole lot of votes to go back to Atlanta and I was just there.  So instead, I've come up with five different places.  All of these places are ones that I would eventually like to get to.  Some will be easier than others.  I may do more than one of these in 2013.  Who knows?  However, I will for sure go to whichever one receives the most votes.  

Here's a little background on each in order to help you choose where to send me.

Iceland is located in the mid-Atlantic and it is the USA's closest European neighbor.  For someone who isn't the biggest fan of cold weather this one must sound a bit odd.  Glaciers and volcanoes just sound so cool.  While the best weather is in summer time, I would most likely go in March or April so that I can catch the Aurora Borealis.  The biggest drawback to Iceland, aside from the cold, is that it is even for Scandinavia, it is very expensive.

Georgia is a country between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.  Once part of the Soviet Union, it declared independence in 1991.  Georgia is home to the break away republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Both of the areas have been occupied by Russian soldiers since the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.  I don't plan on going anywhere near the break away republics but how cool would it be to go from Atlanta, Georgia to Tbilisi, Georgia?  

The United Arab Emirates is on the Persian Gulf between Oman and Saudi Arabia.  It is a federation of seven emirates.  I know many people who have gone there and everyone has enjoyed it.  Dubai is home to the Burj Khalifa which is the world's tallest building.  One of reasons for considering the UAE now is because I would really like to visit Israel.  The problem is that if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport then the UAE, and about 20 other nations, won't let you enter the country.  Therefore I have to visit the UAE first.  On the drawback side, the UAE isn't exactly gay friendly.  Homosexuality is illegal and the punishments range from jail time, fines, deportation and the death penalty.

The Baltics consist of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.  At the start of WWI, all three countries gained independence from the Russian Empire.  However, all three were later annexed by the Soviet Union.  In 1991, they declared independence.  The three countries are now liberal democracies and in 2004 they joined the EU and NATO.  If I go to the Baltics then I may try fit in either Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Lithuania and Poland, or Belarus.      

The "Stans" are five countries in Central Asia which all used to be Soviet Republics.  Today, they are the independent republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.  Not quite sure which one (or maybe two) countries I would visit.  Uzbekistan has been on my list of places to visit since I was 16 years old.  I remember reading a magazine article about the Soviet Union and it talked about how Uzbekistan was home to camels and pineapples.  It just sounded like such an exotic part of the U.S.S.R.  Kyrgyzstan doesn't require a tourist visa which is a plus.  The other four all charge between $160 to $180 per visa and each visa will require a trip to the appropriate embassy in Prague or Vienna.

You can only vote once per computer.  I should have only allowed people to make a single choice but I didn't.  Oh well, something to remember for the next time.  So feel free to submit your vote on where I should go visit in 2013. The poll will remain open until New Year's Eve.